She Will Be Loved
by MadAsAMage
Summary: Our heroes act out "She Will Be Loved" from Maroon 5, Rey loses her patience, Luke needs to be braver, and everyone gets what they deserve – eventually. Also, loving someone from a distance hurts like hell. Mentions of Rey/Hux, Rey/Kylo. Modern AU. Songfic.


Disclaimer: Not mine.

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He drove for miles and miles and wound up at the door of her empty apartment. Luke knocked one last time and when there was no answer – not a sound – he turned and took the rickety stairs down. He had seen her car at its usual place, so he decided to wait, knowing she wouldn't be long. Luke was worried – he hadn't heard from Rey for some time, and her silence always worried him more than the bruises, or the cuts.

Heavy rain was pouring down on him as he ran to the car he had parked on the corner of the apartment building. He was soaked through in a moment and turned the heating up, trying to get comfortable inside. He didn't mind spending the day – or every day – in the pouring rain, hours and hours without end, only if it would mean making sure Rey was alright.

It was October in the city of Ahch-To, rain _wasn't_ unexpected, but as he watched the heavens cry, he wished for better weather. He wished for the warm afternoons and golden sunlight of the summer months or the clean morning cool of September and its clear skies. The downpour and the barrier of dark grey clouds reflected his mood too much for his tastes. Luke didn't want to dwell on unpleasant thoughts, fought to stay optimistic.

Rey was too busy to call; too much work, a new cute boyfriend, or perhaps she was finally getting along with her stepfather and spent a lot of time at her parents' house. It wasn't like Luke was an everyday fixture in her life. No. He was a peculiarity, some unexpected phenomenon which occurred from time to time.

He felt old and foolish, waiting to catch a glimpse of a girl who was young enough to be his daughter. Yet still, he waited – old and foolish.

Ten minutes later, his patience was rewarded when he noticed a familiar figure under a yellow umbrella. He couldn't help his smile as he watched her struggle against a gust of wind. Rey wore her favorite blue jacket, collar turned up against the chilly weather, head bowed. He loved the umbrella – it was one of the good, bright things in her life and when he had bought it for her, Rey's smile had been almost blinding.

Luke liked to put a genuine smile on her face – not the fake one she usually wore for the world to see.

He watched her walk along the sidewalk until she came close to his car. Then she noticed him and stilled for a second before she moved hesitatingly closer. Luke rolled down the window.

"Hello, Rey. How are you?" he asked gently but he could not muster a smile. There was a large dark bruise on her cheek, spreading from the cheekbone down to the jaw, the edges turning green and yellow. The whole side of her face was bruised, and he fisted his right hand – the one out of her sight – and tried to keep his expression neutral.

"Luke. Is that your driver's car?" Rey ducked her head, blocking his view of the bruise, and clutched a small shopping bag closer to her chest. She never took a car to the store, he knew. With the prices of gas recently, she preferred to walk.

"It is but Jim doesn't mind. I bribe him with ginger beer." This time, he managed a weak grin. "Why don't you sit inside? You look cold."

Rey's eyes strayed to his, and he could see how upset she was. She didn't want to have this conversation with him. It was always the same; Luke would ask what had happened, she would lie, he would not believe that and Rey would change the subject. Not this time. Luke had had enough.

"Please, Rey. Why won't you stay for awhile?" His voice was soft and his eyes pleading.

After another long minute, she walked around the car and sat in the passenger's seat, the shopping bag in her lap, the water from the umbrella soaking her knees and pooling at her feet as she rested it against her legs. She refused to look at him and shivered, hands gripping the handle like a lifeline.

Luke swallowed and didn't know how to begin. At that moment, Rey looked like the girl he had met four years ago – so young, so frightened, expecting another blow any second. She had been eighteen and had some trouble with herself, when he had seen for the first time, his broken beauty queen.

-.-.-

A glass was breaking. It was the middle of the night, but Luke was a light sleeper and woke up almost at the same time the sound echoed through the house.

He was instantly alert and reached for the loaded gun he kept in his bedside table. Some habits were hard to get rid of and being armed even in his house was one of them. He checked the gun and rose from the bed, soundlessly padding through his empty home. Luke wasn't a stranger to dangerous situations, but as the adrenaline pumped through his veins, he felt his heartbeat quicken, and every detail was coming into sharp focus.

He just hoped he wouldn't have to shoot anyone. The paperwork would be messy, and he could do without the media attention. He could already see the headlines: Crazy Skywalker Does It Again! As if a billionaire wasn't entitled to a mental breakdown once or twice – no one had been harmed, and no charges pressed. Luke didn't see the point in bringing those incidents up, again and again, every time he emerged from his self-imposed exile back into the public life.

His sister would have a fit, though.

"Damages the family name, my ass," he grumbled under his breath as he took the stairs downstairs. He tiptoed into the kitchen and listened for a moment to quiet sounds of… _sobbing?_ Luke was quite confident that he heard it right. Someone – a female – was crying in his kitchen. Given the fact that Luke Skywalker was a recluse who lived virtually alone – his staff returned home every evening – and his closest neighbors were two miles down the road, he was a bit perplexed how the situation had come to be.

He put the safety catch on and slipped the gun into the pocket of his pajama pants, before flicking the lights on.

A startled cry sounded from behind the worktop, close to the back door. A shaking girl slowly stood from her crouched position, and Luke blinked when he saw her. His jaw dropped. Beautiful girls in dresses with their makeup smeared and tear tracks on their faces did _not_ appear in his kitchen in the dead of night, but there was a first time for everything.

He quickly glanced around the room and saw a few shards of glass on the floor, an opened cabinet. Luke tried to remember if he had locked the door, but probably not. He often forgot to. However, it was apparent she was not a thief, and given the state she was in, she probably needed help.

Those things ran through Luke's mind, and he eventually settled for saying, "Hello. May I help you?"

"I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't know anybody was home. Armitage said…" she fell silent and bit her lip, looking away from Luke. He shifted his weight and frowned. The name was unfamiliar to him, and he was sure he would remember ever seeing a girl like her with one of his acquaintances. Her looks were something not easily forgotten. That reminded him to keep his eyes on her face, not to let his gaze stray to her cleavage or any lower.

"Hux, Armitage Hux. They live two miles from you. He… he said that the house is usually empty. I wouldn't… I wouldn't intrude otherwise."

Yes, the house would appear empty to the Hux family and… Oh no, she was crying anew, and Luke felt like an idiot. He slowly rounded the worktop, careful not to startle her, and passed her a whole roll of paper towels awkwardly. It was a bizarre situation. "Ah, yes. You mean the youngest boy, the ginger, right?"

"Yes, that's him." She accepted the towels and dried her face as she kept looking at him, smearing mascara over her cheeks. Her eyes bore into him, and Luke noticed how large and brown they were. The look in them reminded him of a frightened animal. "I'm so sorry for the mess but the door was unlocked, and I was just so thirsty and… Please, don't call the cops. I just wanted a glass of water…"

"I won't." The police. That hadn't occurred to Luke at all, and his cheeks flushed slightly. He felt the heavy weight of the gun in his pocket as he resolutely grabbed another glass and went to fill it. "Here, have a drink."

He offered her the glass, but she didn't move to take it. Luke slowly lowered his hand and glanced down at the floor. The shards of the broken glass were spread between the girl and him – and she didn't have any shoes. In fact, her feet were blistered and slightly bleeding.

It all clicked into place, and Luke felt a heavy, uncomfortable feeling settle into his chest. His sister would call it a hero complex, and call him stupid, but he preferred to call his reaction basic human decency. He took a deep breath and put the glass away before he cautiously came closer, avoiding the glass, and offered her his right hand. "I'm Luke."

"I know, Mr. Skywalker. I'm Rey Plutt." She shook his hand, her eyes still so large. He could see his reflection in them, and up to this close, he realized that they were hazel.

"Yes, well, I didn't introduce myself by my surname, did I? Call me Luke. It would feel less awkward." It also made him feel even older than he really was.

"Wha-oh!"

It was an impulse he couldn't resist. Luke swept her into his arms bridal style, took two steps away from the glass and put her to sit on the worktop. "I'm sorry, I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"N-no," she choked out, but her eyes were welling again, this time the emotion in them making Luke uncomfortably warm. He wasn't used to anyone looking at him with gratitude, not for something as simple as helping someone not to step on glass.

"Good. Now, take a drink, and I'll have a look at your feet. I know that you kids like to dance but wearing your shoes out and then losing it looks a bit extreme. What happened to you, Rey?"

"The dancing part was very nice." Rey chuckled faintly and rubbed her face with her hand. Luke fetched the paper towels wordlessly and brought her the water. He spread a dishtowel over the broken glass next and went to get the first-aid kit.

"It's stupid. I'm stupid," was Rey's answer when he got back and then she remained silent.

"Walking two miles without shoes on is stupid, yes. Unless they are high heels – in that case, taking them off is a smart thing to do. Breaking into my house is also pretty stupid, but somehow I can't believe you did this because _you_ are stupid." Luke took another dishtowel, wetted in warm water and started carefully clean her feet from the grime. "Don't squirm, I know it hurts."

"Tickles, too."

"Tickles, alright – but still, don't move." Luke looked up at her briefly, giving Rey a small smile – to his surprise, she smiled back tentatively and wasn't that a sight to behold? Only a blind man couldn't see how her beauty shined through the ruined makeup and the mask of sadness. Luke wasn't blind.

As he treated her injured feet, Rey relaxed enough to tell him all about Armitage Hux, her high school sweetheart, the prom and the evening at his house. She had overheard Hux senior telling Armitage to break things off with her, and after that, she had just run.

"Because I'm not good enough for Armitage, you see. The old man tolerated me only because he liked to stare at me himself. I don't have the right hobbies, the right parents, the money. I can't be anything but a pretty distraction for his son," she finished, sounding too bitter for someone her age.

"Brendol Hux is a bit full of himself, but I don't think that Junior is as bad, Rey. You see, it'll turn out ok." Luke tried to reassure her, but even as he was saying those words, he knew he was lying. Hux Senior ruled the family with an iron fist and took great pride in his family's lineage.

"Armitage worships him. He's going to be so sweet about it, but he's going to break up with me." Rey smiled a broken smile, the kind of that said it was alright even though it wasn't. The type she had used so many times before, lying to the world that _she_ was okay while she wasn't. It was an admirable kind of bravery.

Armitage Hux was an idiot. Luke slowly straightened, wiping his hands with the dishtowel. He didn't know what to say only that he didn't like the way Rey looked when she spoke about herself like that, or that she was talking about herself in that tone in the first place. The girl needed a hug and plenty of rest. But the hug had a priority.

"You know, having the right parents and money doesn't make life better, Rey," he said finally.

"It makes it easier," she grumbled and decided to hop from the counter. Luke stepped even closer and caught before she could touch the ground. His arms came around her back firmly, and he tried not to think about the low cut of her dress or the fact how lithe and small she felt in his embrace. "Careful. I wouldn't put any weight on your feet for a moment. Let me fetch you a painkiller first."

"I'm fine." Rey blushed. "Really."

Luke let go of her, and Rey hissed as she stood on the floor on her own, and wavered. He caught her again and nodded, "Obviously. Why won't you stay for awhile?"

-.-.-

"We can't keep doing this, Luke," she said suddenly and brought him back from his remembrance. Luke startled and gave her a surprised glance. The way Rey was looking at him as if she would never see him again, broke his heart.

"I agree." His nod made her eyes glisten, and she tried for one of her brave fake smiles. He quickly reached for one of her hand, pried it away from the umbrella and put it between his palms. "I hate what he does to you. What was it this time? You startled him again? Did he think you were going to rob him? Was it dark and he didn't see you?"

He listed only some of her favorite excuses. Both Rey and Luke knew that her current boyfriend had an awful temper and zero self-restraint. Rey liked to joke that the relationship was very passionate. Luke knew that Rey wasn't the kind of girl to just suffer through any sort of abuse silently; she hit right back, and things often got ugly. He had seriously considered getting the thug arrested for something. Or shooting him himself and making sure nobody ever found the body. Anything to get him out of Rey's life. The only problem was that Rey wanted Kylo Ren right where he was.

"Kylo is gone." Rey's lower lip trembled, but her eyes remained dry. "I kicked him out. I'm going to sort out my life, do better, and he was pulling me back."

Luke was actually shocked to hear that and smiled at her brightly, bringing up her hand to his mouth and kissing the knuckles.

Once, he had told her that his door would always be open for her and was only too happy to know that it was him who brought Rey solace and safety and who made her comfortable when the world around her crumbled. Luke had been there to help her through difficult times, and he had slowly started to hate that she had belonged to someone else. Somehow, Luke wanted more even though he had told himself so many times not to push it.

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear that, Rey," he said and wished for the same courage Rey possessed. He would like to kiss her palm but refrained. He just smiled as he stared at her in wonder. "No idea."

How many times Rey had come to him in the middle of the night when things hadn't been going well for her? He couldn't remember, didn't care. Luke had often wondered if he couldn't be the one making her life better and perhaps this was his chance. He should have made his move before Ren – but at that time, Luke hadn't been sure about his feelings. He was now.

"Don't look at me," she whispered and closed her eyes. "Don't look."

"Why?" He was confused and reached to trace the line of her jaw. His courage went at least that far.

"Because I'm one big walking bruise and you were right all along, and we can't keep doing this, Luke! I can't keep doing this to you!" she cried and shook her head. Next, Rey moved away from his reach, breaking the gentle contact between them. "Don't you see?"

"I'm afraid you've completely lost me."

Rey took a shaking breath and clutched the umbrella again, avoided looking at him. "How long have we known each other?"

"A little over four years." Luke turned to look at her fully and frowned, his eyes flickering over her face. He wanted so badly to bring her closer to him, to hold her. It hadn't been an unusual thing to do, but he felt that now things were different; their closeness had been… _innocent_. Luke had made sure it had been, never had initiated the contact himself after the first fateful meeting.

"Have you been on a date during all that time? Or taken a vacation? "

"Rey, I don't understand where you are going with this…" He didn't like the sound of it, not at all. "Why don't you just tell me what's on your mind? You don't make much sense, sweetheart."

"You can't spend your life saving me, Luke. I have to do that myself." Her eyes opened, and she stared at him, her gaze miserable. He saw his face reflected back at him in those brown orbs. Luke's mirror image appeared like she had just gutted him.

"You… you are trying to imply that…"

"I can't keep popping at your house in the middle of the night, or call you while you are going over some important stuff at your company, or having dinner with a Senator, Luke. I'm just nobody while you are… _you_. I mean, you have to borrow your driver's car to visit this part of the town. This district is not a place someone like you even thinks about and I'm not the right kind of person to spend time with. You need to devote your time to your own life. Not picking up pieces of mine."

Luke gaped at her. He wanted to go and hunt down the bastard who had put these thoughts into her head – starting with her worthless excuse of a stepfather, and then every other pathetic, miserable boy she had ever dated. Luke wasn't a violent person by nature, but when someone hurt people he cared about or innocents, he often forgot his mild manners.

"Rey, that's absolu-"

"I'm saying goodbye, Luke. Don't come back here." Rey rushed out of the car, leaving her umbrella and shopping bag behind. Her tears were masked by the raindrops but he heard her sob quite well, and it was like a punch to his face.

"Rey! Rey!" he called after her, but she just ran faster and disappeared inside of the apartment building. Luke cursed, locked the car and ran after her. There was no way he was going to accept that without saying what was on his mind, in his heart. He tended to get insecure when a pretty girl was involved, but that didn't matter anymore. He hoped that the goodbye meant nothing at all. Luke would spend the rest of his life saving her if he let him. He just had to inform her of that fact, to stop her from feeling guilty about it. Everyone required saving from time to time; there was nothing wrong with that, no shame, no need to feel bad for needing someone.

When he pounded on the door of her apartment, out of breath, soaked to the bone once more, he was considering breaking it down. Then he listened and realized that Rey wasn't home. There was only one set of wet footprints on the floor – his.

Sneaky little thing, he thought and chuckled. The sound echoed down the hall – bleak and empty and unhappy.

Luke rested his forehead against her door and waited until his breathing and heartbeat went back to normal, then he slowly made his way back into the car and collapsed in the driver's seat. One glance down the street let him know that Rey had taken her car while he had been inside and had driven off. He had a reasonably good idea where she had gone; as probably the only one he knew where she liked to hide in her car when she wanted to be alone.

Thirty minutes later, just as the dark fell, he found himself in the hills above the city. The bend of the road which offered a stunning view into the valley and at the whole of Ahch-To was empty, however.

Luke heaved a deep sigh and spent several moments watching how the city twinkled in the night. He had thought Rey would be there and the fact that she wasn't made him question how much he truly knew her. What if she had meant the goodbye for real? What if there was no place in her life for a sad old man any longer?

He wasn't a fool. He knew he could easily become one of the things that kept Rey back, pulled her down, stopped her from spreading her wings. She was so young, her life was just beginning. Luke also knew that he would move heaven and earth to put a smile on her face, just to see her happy, carefree and loved; even if he would have to do that from a distance.

The rain became a faint drizzle when he got finally back home. Luke didn't look forward to the coldness of an empty house and rubbed his eyes, leaning his head back. It was too big for one man, but he liked the solitude it offered, the address was good, and he was close to the rest of his family and the firm. His sister had arranged the purchase when Luke had been discharged from the army and taken over the family business.

A tap on his window surprised him, and when he looked up, he saw Rey shivering in the rain.

"Rey!" Without much thought, he got out of the car. His first reflex was to hug her close to him and never let go, but he stopped himself. She had come back, and for a moment, Luke thought his heart might burst. "God, Rey! I was looking for you. Are you alright? You look like you need something warm to drink and a change of clothes and…"

"I didn't want you to find me," she interrupted him, staring at him with those wide brown eyes of hers. "You look much worse than me."

"I'm used to worse. A little bit of rain won't hurt me. You, on the other hand, can catch your death out here. Come inside."

Rey let him bring her inside, and Luke was daring enough to keep his hand on the small of her back and stay close to her. Once they were in the kitchen, he made them tea and brought her a fluffy green towel while he used a dark brown one. "I can get you a change of clothes, too. Don't you want to use the shower?"

She took the towel wordlessly and dried her face. Her eyes were trained on the floor, and she appeared to be miles and miles away. She had come to his house, to him, as she had so many times before. Luke hoped that it meant something, hoped it meant she would continue to let him catch her anytime she fell.

"Rey?"

"I don't know what I'm doing here. I just couldn't get the expression on your face from my mind. You looked like I broke your heart and it made me realize that you often had given me that look before. I just never thought that… I just… I don't know what I'm doing here."

Gathering his courage, he stepped closer and took the towel from her, her startled eyes meeting his. His fingers gently wrapped around her hands, bringing warmth into her life, Luke smiled, "I'm glad you came."

"Really? I was so awful to you this afternoon while you tried to…"

"Well, a relationship isn't always rainbows and butterflies, you know." Luke minimized the distance between them and swallowed. His heart was beating madly inside of his chest as Rey stared at him. "Sometimes, it's about compromise. That's what moves us along."

"It doesn't seem fair if you are the only one giving and giving and giving. I always took from you, and it's just not fair. Where's the compromise in that? You deserve someone better, someone, who didn't break your heart so many times… someone who isn't so stupid and blind. You make me think these… _impossible things_ … and I just keep hurting you. We're so bad for each other, Luke."

She wasn't trying to say goodbye very hard, he thought, and hope blossomed in his heart. The feeling – so warm – was making him giddy. Then Rey's gaze strayed to his lips, just for a moment, and Luke breathed, "I don't think you are stupid, Rey, or that we're bad for each other. Quite the opposite, in fact."

Stars glimmered in her eyes as silent tears escaped and slid down her face. Luke hesitated before he traced one of them with his thumb – on the right side of Rey's cheek, the one without the bruise.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she whispered and trembled – not from the cold, he believed. His touch made her shiver, and Luke felt suddenly very brave.

"I don't know if I ever told you but to me, you are perfect, and you matter more than anyone else ever has." Luke cupped her face in his palm and leaned closer. "I want to make you _feel_ beautiful and loved and cherished."

It was Rey who closed the distance first and gave him the sweetest kiss Luke had ever received – shy and hesitant, just barely a brush of lips against lips – but Luke treasured the memory of it for the rest of his life. Their first kiss tasted of Rey's tears, the rains of Ahch-To, and many, many promises. The second one spoke of hope and future and all things bright and sunny despite the October chill in the air, and the darkness of the night. The third was all heat and exhilaration, a culmination of years of yearning betraying a hidden passion which swallowed them for the next few hours. All other kisses they would share in the years to come would remind them of those three that were first, and they would glance at each other with a secret little smile and a spark in their eyes.


End file.
